German factory orders surge in June

German factory orders increased sharply in June following a slight drop in previous month, official data showed on Thursday, underlining solid economic situation and adding signs to a robust growth in coming months.

Adjusted for seasonal and working-day swings, new orders received by German manufacturing sector surged by 2.0 percent in June on May, beating economists' expectation of a growth of 0.3 percent and rebound from a slight drop of 0.2 percent in previous month, data from German federal statistical office Destatis showed.

Demand from abroad led the growth with a monthly increase of 4.8 percent, and offset a decline of 2.0 percent in domestic orders, Destatis said.

Among the sources of foreign bookings, countries outside the euro zone contributed the most with an increase of 6.3 percent, while new orders from the common currency area were up by 2.3 percent.

"The trend of new orders is clearly pointing upward," the German Economy Ministry said in a statement, adding that the average of new orders in the second quarter was higher than in the first three months of this year.

"The industry in Germany is likely to maintain its path of moderate growth in the coming month," the ministry said.

The German economy, the biggest one in Europe, expanded mildly by 0.3 percent in the first quarter with private consumption as its main driving force.

Economists expected the economic growth would speed up in the second quarter as impetus such as stable labor market, low interest rate, weak euro and falling energy prices were noticed.

Recent survey found that German business morale improved and consumers' confidence remained at a high level despite varying scenarios abroad. Endit